I’ve seen a lot of U2 ‘fans’ disowning them and saying they are finished for slating ‘my’ president. But being brutally honest, how can they call themselves U2 fans? This is a band that has always been very liberal from a political perspective, and thankfully so, so how many more right wing fans of the band didn’t get this is hilarious in showing up their idiocy.

It is very interesting just how quiet the chat is with this video. For mine, I didn't think much of it. But that had nothing to do with the political elements, just that it really didn't grab me and didn't seem to enhance the tune in any way. Maybe I was just more interested in seeing the Mexican one. Which seemed a far lighter sort of video perhaps more in line with the song.

It felt, much like the song itself, that the political parts to it were shoehorned in. And in the case of the video, over emphasised. Given this tune seemed to have less of that political message as its focus, whilst the video seemed to have that at its core. It also seems like a very big shift from that more middle of the road, coming together of left and right, tone that the Joshua Tree tour had established. This more overt statement being far more in keeping with the band as we have know them, but a real shift from the tone of the last tour. So it is an interesting shift that perhaps hints at a more politically vocal, at least in a clearer certain direction, U2 on the next tour.

Kind of felt more like a video that might have gone with American Soul or Red Flag Day rather than this one. So it seems a bit of a jarring video for mine from that point of view.

As for fans jumping off the bandwagon because of how political this is, you have to be kidding. Seemed tame to me. Tame in that the images were pretty broadstroke standard criticisms, nothing overly shocking or new about that. And did these so called "life long fans" miss the whole call up of a certain President during the ZooTV era? Then again, not being American it is perhaps hard to fully understand the reactions to these sorts of things.

I can't help feeling that GOOYOW, apart from being right up there in terrible acronyms, was a different tune lyrically and then with the delays it eventually had more political elements worked into it (face of liberty line etc) as the rest of the records themes took shape. I think that has been a bit of problem for U2 for some time with the length taken to marinate the albums. It often feels musically and lyrically like ideas get shoehorned into place where it might have worked better in a different way. Would love a record produced quickly and the version more akin to that from the famous "band room" of the studio. Less polish, less overthinking, less agonising, less marinating, less clinging to an intellectual thread rather than instinctive musical ideas.

As a strong conservative and Trump supporter the band being very liberal doesn't offend me or turn me off from them.

Their politics doesn't affect me buying tickets or new albums. I'm still the same fan I was when I first started liking them when I was 11 years old.

My 2nd favorite band: Green Day: are a little different when talking about politics. At their shows it's more like "f*** trump" every time BJ talks and that is a little annoying but still I am not going to not be a fan of theirs.

I don't see why you have to bash to degrade someone just for having a different viewpoint or perspective than you have. That's what makes this world and this country (USA) great. The ability to not get persecuted for your belief.

What is interesting to notice how much more detail focused U2 are, they have been criticiing things before, but they had enough vagueness and ambiguity there, now the universal message is lost by focusing too much on one side. As if the world was not divided enough. Fans who are neither left or right can barely relate to the message or emotional core. For an artist the way how to unite means to reach a higher level where everyone can relate, where's no side to choose, fighting for what we believe against all odds, themes that are universal. That's what U2 were known for before. It is a challenge for me, I can love the song and the video, because I can dismiss the details, and see the universal message despite all the descriptions. But I am aware that many people may have a harder time to do that, U2 dont make it easy for them, there's less room for relatability and imagination now. One can only wonder how many people who love it or hate it is because of the side of reality and truth U2 are depicting. That can date any art in the years to come as any vehicle of propaganda.

It is very interesting just how quiet the chat is with this video. For mine, I didn't think much of it. But that had nothing to do with the political elements, just that it really didn't grab me and didn't seem to enhance the tune in any way. Maybe I was just more interested in seeing the Mexican one. Which seemed a far lighter sort of video perhaps more in line with the song.

It felt, much like the song itself, that the political parts to it were shoehorned in. And in the case of the video, over emphasised. Given this tune seemed to have less of that political message as its focus, whilst the video seemed to have that at its core.

I agree. While I thought the imagery was clever, it's totally disconnected from the song, which Bono has said (IIRC) that it's about his daughters finding their way in the world.

It also seems like a very big shift from that more middle of the road, coming together of left and right, tone that the Joshua Tree tour had established. This more overt statement being far more in keeping with the band as we have know them, but a real shift from the tone of the last tour. So it is an interesting shift that perhaps hints at a more politically vocal, at least in a clearer certain direction, U2 on the next tour.

Good point. Given Bono's comments about rethinking the record, their doing American Soul on SNL, etc., it feels like Bono is desperate for people to listen to him/them and thinks that U2 can really have a mass impact. I think he said as much in the RS interview -- something like "we think we're just the band for these times." While I generally appreciate ambition and audacity, it rings hollow this time for me. They still have a massive audience, but the world has moved on and they're no longer capable of helping shape the zeitgeist. I wish he would let it go.

What is interesting to notice how much more detail focused U2 are, they have been criticiing things before, but they had enough vagueness and ambiguity there, now the universal message is lost by focusing too much on one side.

I respectfully disagree. "Bullet the Blue Sky" is explicit in its critique of American foreign policy, and in the Making of the Unforgettable Fire documentary, Bono mentions that Ronald Reagan is a lot to stomach for people that early in the day when referencing an interview on Good Morning America. To be clear, I am not advocating one way or the other here, but to say that U2 just started revealing their partisan politics is ignoring most of the 80s and early 90s. Only during the 2000s did they start playing it closer to the vest, because Bono felt he needed to cater to all sides to get maximum funding for the One campaign (which was probably a smart decision by him). Now that he's observed it's a lost cause that Trump would ever want to contribute money to countries that he allegedly described as being "s***-holes" , Bono apparently has decided he doesn't need to play both sides of the aisle anymore, so he and the band are letting their true political feelings come out. That may offend some people who are just learning of them, but they've shown indications of having these beliefs for 35 years now....

I’ve seen a lot of U2 ‘fans’ disowning them and saying they are finished for slating ‘my’ president. But being brutally honest, how can they call themselves U2 fans? This is a band that has always been very liberal from a political perspective, and thankfully so, so how many more right wing fans of the band didn’t get this is hilarious in showing up their idiocy.

Good riddance I say. U2 doesn’t need fans like them.

I think the shot at Matt was unnecessary. I appreciate that he runs this site. That said, as a fellow American, I've observed that this President has a particularly polarizing effect on Americans. For about 40% of the country, they feel he is as authentic to their beliefs as could be possible in a politician of that rank. For another 40%, he stands for everything they revile in American history. The other 20% (who are somehow undecided) is probably who will decide if he gets re-elected in 3 years....

I was under the impression that Bono wrote the lyrics to his children (or subset thereof). So the stark KKK/Trump stuff was a surprise, even with the democracy starting to crack line. I believe Trump is a racist and I think it needs to be pointed out at every instance but I just didn't quite get it with this song. I don't need or want this song to be political. In fact, the sentiment of the song rang true with me and my own son. So, I will continue have those feelings with this song and not a political statement.

With that said, I think the creative process used in this video (and American Soul) by Broken Fingaz is amazing. To cut out all those small pieces and use stop motion animation in the way they did is really cool. It must have been very tedious. I would love to learn more about the process and how many hours it took to complete each step.

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Asteroid41

I’ve seen a lot of U2 ‘fans’ disowning them and saying they are finished for slating ‘my’ president. But being brutally honest, how can they call themselves U2 fans? This is a band that has always been very liberal from a political perspective, and thankfully so, so how many more right wing fans of the band didn’t get this is hilarious in showing up their idiocy.

Good riddance I say. U2 doesn’t need fans like them.

I'm new on this forum and I understand we are not supposed to discuss politics but you are right. My intuition says it simply does not match. There I said it.

What is interesting to notice how much more detail focused U2 are, they have been criticiing things before, but they had enough vagueness and ambiguity there, now the universal message is lost by focusing too much on one side. As if the world was not divided enough. Fans who are neither left or right can barely relate to the message or emotional core. For an artist the way how to unite means to reach a higher level where everyone can relate, where's no side to choose, fighting for what we believe against all odds, themes that are universal. That's what U2 were known for before. It is a challenge for me, I can love the song and the video, because I can dismiss the details, and see the universal message despite all the descriptions. But I am aware that many people may have a harder time to do that, U2 dont make it easy for them, there's less room for relatability and imagination now. One can only wonder how many people who love it or hate it is because of the side of reality and truth U2 are depicting. That can date any art in the years to come as any vehicle of propaganda.

I'm not sure how on earth you could ever construe that U2 are politically ambiguous. The morality in their political stances and which are inherent in their songs makes it clear as day which side they lean on. Okay, what about all that 'kowtowing' with Bush? Well that was all in the name of fighting AIDS - an admirable stance from Bono which exemplified a perfect diplomatic manner in which the need for consensus is not to seek uniformity (i.e. not agree with Bush's political ideological stance) but to find points of unity around which to unite.

Some people are beyond redemption though, and Bono and co quite rightly show up the horrible nasty human being that Trump is, who quite frankly seems beyond redemption. George W Bush, although I hugely disagree and almost despise his politics, to me is not a bad man. Do I think he's misguided? Sure, but he'd think that of me - but ultimately I do believe there is a moral compass in there that is completely lacking in Trump.

Support, or even an ambiguous and/or conciliatory gesture towards Trump, would only merely highlight peoples' own lack of morality in legitimising such awfulness.